Text and facial expressions drive success in charitable crowdfunding

A study conducted by researches from Ocean University of China, published in Financial Innovation, presents a novel model to investigate the role of emotions in charitable crowdfunding. Grounded in emotional contagion theory and language-mediated association theory, this research develops a framework to examine how textual and facial emotions affect crowdfunding outcomes. The research team first collected a comprehensive dataset by observing the facial expressions of campaign initiators and analyzing the emotional content of their narratives.

After data collection, the researchers conducted data preprocessing, including the extraction and classification of emotional scores. Utilizing data mining techniques, the study reveals the underlying mechanisms of different emotions. The results indicate that while overall negative-emotion-oriented narratives are more conducive to favorable funding outcomes, the impact of specific emotions varies. Furthermore, facial emotions are shown to work in conjunction with textual emotions to enhance funding results.

Lead author Baozhou Lu noted, “This study emphasizes the critical role of emotions in charitable crowdfunding and provides profound insights into how emotional expressions can influence donation behavior.”

The findings not only offer valuable references for researchers but also provide practical guidance for practitioners in the field of charitable crowdfunding.

The findings from this research hold significant practical implications for charitable crowdfunding platforms and campaign organizers. By understanding the impact of emotional expressions, both in text and facial cues, campaign creators can craft more compelling and emotionally resonant narratives to increase donor engagement. Platforms could also integrate emotion-based tools or features, such as emotion detection algorithms, to provide real-time feedback for optimizing campaign content.

Additionally, these insights could help organizations better train campaign initiators, improving their ability to connect emotionally with potential donors and ultimately increasing the success rate of fundraising efforts.